1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to an occupant protection apparatus for helping to protect an occupant of a vehicle in the event of a side impact to the vehicle. In particular, the present invention relates to the mounting of a side impact air bag module in a door of a vehicle.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is known to mount an air bag in a door of a vehicle. The air bag is inflatable into the vehicle occupant compartment to help protect a vehicle occupant in the event of a side impact to the vehicle.
Some known air bag modules include an air bag that surrounds an inflator to provide the module with a soft or flexible external surface. It is known to position this type of module inside a reaction canister that is mounted in the vehicle door. The reaction canister is a separate housing, which is attached to the vehicle door structure and which provides structural support for the air bag module prior to and during deployment of the air bag.
The present invention is a vehicle occupant protection apparatus for helping to protect an occupant of a vehicle in the event of a side impact to the vehicle. The vehicle has a seat for the occupant. The apparatus comprises a vehicle door for location adjacent to and outboard of the vehicle seat. An air bag module mounted in the door includes an air bag and an actuatable inflator for inflating the air bag from a deflated condition stowed in the door to an inflated condition extending inboard from the door. The vehicle door comprises a structural door panel, at least one exterior skin panel supported on the structural panel, and at least one interior trim panel supported on the structural door panel. The structural door panel is formed as one piece and has module portions disposed between the interior trim panel and the exterior skin panel. The module portions define a recess in the structural door panel for receiving and supporting the air bag module. The structural door panel further defines a deployment opening through which the air bag is inflatable from the recess.